Art of the Week: Cottingley Fairies

Elsie Wright, "Cottingley Fairies" (1917). Click here for image URL.

Elsie Wright took this picture in 1917: A shot of Frances Griffiths posing while surrounded by fairies. Almost 100 years after the invention of photography, people started to understand how to ‘edit’ and create imaginary scenarios.

The cut-out fairies were placed in the setting where the picture would be taken. Though for us it seems so obvious to be a man-made intervention, at the time, people believed these fairies to be real. Photography was used to document reality, and it was its main purpose at the time, even if used for artistic intent. Once the fairies were seen in a photograph, it was to believe they were real, because all other elements of the picture were too.

Art of the Week: Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer

Gustav Klimt, "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I" (1907). Neue Galerie, New York.

Through the making of this painting, Klimt and his model had an affair, and its analysis indicate elements of this happening. The positioning of the hands shows a possible maliciousness, of waiting for something to happen. Her face, though neutral, is powerful. Her dress contrasts from the golden background with the almond-shaped eyes, a motif with sexual connotations.

As the son of a gold smith, Gustav Klimt is best known for the gold work he uses in his paintings. This portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer and its second version mark the fullest point in the Viennese artist's golden phase. Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, the model’s wealthy husband, commissioned this portrait. Years later, the Nazis took the painting from the family.

After the repossession of the painting to the Bloch-Bauers, to the Altmann's family, the painting was sold at a Christie's auction in 2006. This was a ground-breaking sale, of $135 million, then, the highest price paid at auction for an artwork. The painting was taken to the Neue Galerie, in New York, where it is now their "Mona Lisa". 

Artagram: hansulrichobrist

Instagrams of artists and people engaged in the arts that are worth checking out!

Hans Ulrich Obrist is Co-director or Exhibition and Programmes, and the Director of International Projects of the Serpentine Gallery. Through his Instagram, he collects written frases and quotes by famous artists and people, hand written by them. 

Instagram: hansulrichobrist

"Olafur Eliasson + Ai Weiwei MAKE YOUR MARK ON THE MOON Your Mark Matters"

"Etel Adnan Art is one of the roads to Paradise."

"Charlie Fegan THIS WAY TO THE REAL WORLD"

"Stefano Boeri DO MORE WITH LESS"

"Heman Chong THINGS THAT DON'T BELONG"